Growing aged care crisis hurts residents in the Hunter

Federal Member for Hunter Joel Fitzgibbon has called out the Turnbull Government’s failure to stop the growing waiting list for home care packages.

The latest data on the waiting list for home care packages reveals there are now 108,000 older Australians waiting for care.

This includes more than 88,000 older Australians waiting with high needs, many with dementia.

It is now abundantly clear why the Turnbull Government deliberately delayed the release of this data for months - more older Australians continue to wait for the home care they need.

As the list grows longer and longer, fresh stories emerge daily of older Australians waiting years for home care.

“The Prime Minister can find $17 billion for the big banks but has failed to deliver one new dollar of funding for aged care, Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“I continue to be contacted by older residents in the Hunter electorate who are waiting longer and longer for the home care package they have been assigned,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“The issue of lengthy waiting times for aged care packages and a lack of communication and process is a story commonly heard by my office.

“A local woman in Marmong Point submitted a claim for an aged care assessment on 30 November 2017. She made contact with my office in April 2018 when she had not heard a thing from any Department. For five months she was forced to wait without any communication about when or if she would receive the care she deserves and needs.

“The growing waiting list will mean more constituents in my electorate will have to wait longer – this is not good enough.”

Since the first release of data, the waiting list for home care has grown from 88,000 older Australians to 108,000 nationally.

“The Minister has already admitted the Government will need to consider other interventions to reduce the list, but with older Australians waiting years for care this action needs to be happening now,” Mr Fitzgibbon added.

“Serious questions remain about whether these numbers are even an accurate picture of the number of older Australians waiting for care after being delayed for so long.

“The Turnbull Government needs to apologise for over promising and under delivering for older Australians.”